· Two hijacked airliners smash into the twin towers of the World Trade Centre in New York. A third hijacked plane slams into the Pentagon in Washington, and a fourth crashes in Pennsylvania, apparently out of control.

The world watches the horrific rapid fire sequence of horror as the WTC towers blaze, then collapse, killing thousands still trapped inside. Within hours, President George Bush addresses the nation, vowing that those responsible will be hunted down.

· The world echoes with condemnation of the suicide bombers. A discordant note is struck by Palestinians, who celebrate the disaster - though their leader, Yasser Arafat, instantly condemns the terrorists, and says he will do all he can to help hunt down those responsible.

· Tony Blair calls for a worldwide campaign against terror, declaring that Britain stands shoulder to shoulder with the American people.

· Amid the enormous midden of rubble which was once the World Trade Centre, rescue workers toil unceasingly. Their grim task is given urgency by the knowledge that some 250 firefighters and police officers are entombed in the wreckage. It is now feared that several hundred Britons are among the dead.

· During an emergency debate in the House of Commons, Labour MP George Galloway issues an impassioned warning against an all-out assault on Afghanistan, warning that such action could create "10,000 Osama bin Ladens".

· Tony Blair talks of Britain's obligation to help bring those responsible for the US outrages to account.

· In America, the FBI names 19 suspects, and for the first time intelligence sources make a direct link between them and Osama bin Laden.

· President Bush establishes a war cabinet of senior administration officials.

· The first cracks appear in the nascent international coalition against terrorism.

Tony Blair echoes President Bush in saying "we are at war" with terrorism.

· Pakistan abandons its support for the Taliban and sides with Washington, reportedly demanding huge economic aid in exchange for its cooperation.

· Governments around the world come under heavy pressure to bail out the stricken airline industry, which has lost an estimated $10bn (£7bn) in less than a week.

Monday September 17

· The New York Stock Exchange reopens, and share prices plummet. The US Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank both cut interest rates by 0.5% to head off recession.

· A high level Pakistani delegation to Taliban leaders in Kandahar demands that Osama bin Laden be handed over, but is rebuffed. Afghanistan's ruling clique of clerics was reported to be preparing to declare a holy war against the US.

· Overseas aid minister Clare Short breaks cabinet ranks by declaring that a military operation which killed civilians would be "unbearable". An Afghan taxi driver in London is beaten up and paralysed from the neck down.

Tuesday September 18

· The Bank of England cuts interest rates by 0.25%, but stock markets continue to slide.

· Amid conflicting reports, Taliban leaders are reported to deny that they have declared a jihad, or holy war, against America - but warn they will do so if Afghanistan is invaded.

Wednesday September 19

· The government announces stern new measures to curb money laundering to cut off terrorist funds. Tony Blair distances himself from President Bush's bombastic declaration that he wants Osama bin Laden "dead or alive".

· Reports from Pakistan say that Osama bin Laden has
bade farewell to his followers in Kabul, and ridden off on horseback to a hideaway in the mountains.

· Washington overcomes an important hurdle in building an anti-terror coalition in the Middle East, by forcing Israel and the Palestinians to agree a ceasefire. The agreement is seen as a setback for the hawkish Israeli prime minister, Ariel Sharon, and a significant boost for the Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat.

· The fragile truce between Israel and the Palestinians continues to hold. If it extends to 48 hours without any significant violence, the Israeli foreign minister, Shimon Peres, will reopen peace talks with Yasser Arafat.

· The Foreign Office urges Britons not to travel to Pakistan, where anti-western feelings are running high. It also advises UK nationals in the country to leave if possible.

· The US dispatches more than 100 combat and support aircraft to various bases in the Middle East and Indian ocean areas. A large naval task force is also on the way, to join what Washington calls Operation Infinite Justice.

· In the US, American investigators say they have uncovered a suspected terrorist cell in Detroit, arresting three men in a raid on a house where diagrams of airports and forged identity documents were found.

Thursday September 20

· Confused and contradictory reports from Kabul suggest that the shura, the council of Islamic clerics, have asked Osama bin Laden to leave Afghanistan voluntarily.

· British Airways is to axe 7,000 jobs and to ground 20 aircraft in the wake of the US terrorist attacks last week, which have caused a calamitous fall-off in ticket sales.

· There are fears of widespread airline bankruptcies, and a wider economic recession as European markets
continue to plunge.

Friday September 21

· Afghanistan's Taliban rulers continue to voice defiance in the face of a grim warning from the US president, George Bush, that the "hour is coming" for America to strike.

· The US agrees to lift sanctions imposed on Pakistan and India and to reschedule $600m (£410m) in bilateral debt with Islamabad.

· Tony Blair arrives in Brussels for an emergency EU summit on the final leg of a 9,000-mile marathon diplomatic mission that has taken him to four countries in less than 48 hours.

· It is announced that Jack Straw is to make the first visit to Iran by a British foreign secretary since the 1979 Islamic revolution in an attempt to build support for a US-led coalition against terrorism

· The Guardian reveals that the US government is pressing its European allies to agree to a military campaign to topple the Taliban regime in Afghanistan and replace it with an interim administration under United Nations auspices.

Saturday September 22

· Anti-terrorist police continue to question three people arrested in London and Birmingham in the wake of the US atrocities. Police across Europe and the US this weekend made a number of further arrests.

· Anti-war campaigners take to the streets of London and Glasgow today to urge the UK and US governments not to launch massive military retaliation.

· In his weekly radio address to Americans, President George Bush stresses the "fundamental strength" of the US economy, but acknowledges the severe economic effect of the attacks on New York and Washington.

Sunday September 23

· In what may prove to be the first shot of the new war in Afghanistan, the country's ruling Taliban militia claims to have downed an unmanned spy plane, and the Pentagon admits that one of its drones is missing.

· Israel's prime minister, Ariel Sharon, defies US and European pressure and cancelled ceasefire talks with the Palestinians.

· President Bush lifts sanctions against Pakistan over the weekend as an apparent reward for its support.

· Saudi Arabia, fearful of stirring up long-suppressed internal conflicts, rejects a US request to use its air bases for an offensive against Osama bin Laden.

· Pope John Paul II, on a visit to central Asia, makes a dramatic plea to the west to pull back from the brink of a war that could pit Christianity against Islam.

· The Yankee Stadium in New York is transformed into an outdoor cathedral where thousands of bereaved mourn the loss of loved ones.

Monday September 24

· Pakistan pulls out all of its diplomatic staff from the Afghan capital of Kabul, in view of the "abnormal situation".

· Mullah Mohammed Omar, the leader of Afghanistan's hardline rulers, says that the United States must withdraw its forces from the Gulf and support the Palestinians in their conflict with Israel if it wants to remove the threat of terrorism.

· Saudi Arabia cuts all ties with Afghanistan's Taliban government, saying Afghan leaders were defaming Islam by harbouring and supporting terrorists. A fax from Osama bin Laden to Muslims in Pakistan calls on them to resist the "new Jewish and Christian crusader campaign that is led by the Chief Crusader Bush under the banner of the cross".

· The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, meets German leaders who seek to solidify Russian support for an international coalition.

· In Britain, the Liberal Democrats continue their truncated and muted annual conference. The Labour and Conservative party conferences are to be cut short as a result of the increasing international crisis.

· Growing fear that the terrorist attacks on the US have pushed the global economy to the brink of recession sends oil prices plunging as traders anticipate sharply reduced demand for energy in the coming months.

· The World Health Organisation urges the UK and other western governments to ensure they are ready to deal with a terrorist attack using biological weapons, such as anthrax, botulin or the smallpox virus.

· The UN world food programme resumes aid shipments into Afghanistan for the first time since the World Trade Centre bombings.

Wednesday September 26

· Nato defence ministers gather in Brussels to discuss the alliance's role in the US-led campaign against terrorism.

· British and American defence ministers attempt to play down speculation on the nature of strikes against Afghanistan, saying any military action against terrorism would not begin with a 'D-day landing'.

· Prime minister Tony Blair calls an emergency cabinet meeting for tomorrow night, and Downing Street says that no special significance should be read into the timing.

· Israeli and Palestinian negotiators, under heavy pressure from Washington agree a series of confidence-building measures aimed at ending a year of fighting.

· In Kabul, thousands of protesters attack the long-abandoned American embassy compound, setting vehicles ablaze and ripping down the US seal above the entrance.

· The International Monetary Fund warns that the global economy stands on the brink of its first recession in almost 10 years. A collapse in profits at Goldman Sachs, together with bad news from other Wall Street banks, triggers fears of a fresh round of job cuts in the City.

· Over 1,000 US airborne troops are reported to be deployed to Uzbekistan and Tajikistan in preparation for a ground operation against Osama bin Laden's bases and Taliban forces in neighbouring Afghanistan.

· In Kabul the leader of Afghanistan's ruling Taliban militia warns Afghans not to look to America for help in challenging his hardline rule.

· British Airways axes 190 weekly flights, including its Heathrow to Belfast route, which will cause the loss of 160 jobs in Northern Ireland.

· Charles Kennedy, the Liberal Democrat leader, makes an emotional appeal to the British people to "pity the poor people of Afghanistan" as he winds up the party conference in Bournemouth.

Friday September 28

· A delegation of high-ranking Pakistani religious leaders and government officials arrives in Afghanistan for talks with the ruling Taliban militia on the fate of Osama bin Laden.

· The Commonwealth summit scheduled for next month in Brisbane, Australia, is postponed for fear that many leaders would stay at home following the attacks in the United States.

· In America, Pentagon officials say that two air force generals have been authorised to shoot down commercial airliners that appear to be threatening any city in the country.

· Independent economic forecasters warn that the chancellor may have to borrow an extra £18bn to underwrite the government's boost to health and education spending, if the US terrorist attacks put the skids under the British economy.

· Former vice-president Al Gore emerges from internal exile at the weekend to declare support for President Bush. To a standing ovation from Democratic party supporters, he announces: "George Bush is my commander-in-chief".

Sunday September 30

· Osama bin Laden is being hidden at a secret location inside Afghanistan "for his safety and security", the Taliban admits in a provocative statement.

· It emerges that the CIA offered Afghanistan's anti-Taliban opposition leader a substantial bounty three years ago for the capture of Osama bin Laden, dead or alive.

· Tony Blair serves notice, at the start of the Labour conference, that his government will take whatever steps it deems necessary to combat the global perils of terrorism and recession.

· Security chiefs across the world make more arrests and continued to question suspects. The latest arrests came in Britain, Germany and the west African state of Mauritania.

Monday October 1

· Air force general Richard Myers today takes on the role of chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, the president's main military adviser and the post held by Colin Powell during the Gulf war, at the most critical military period for the country since the Vietnam war.

· Jordan's King Abdullah said President George Bush had promised not to launch military strikes on Iraq as part of the retaliation for the terrorist attacks, according to reports from Amman.

· The government has frozen £60m held in over a dozen British bank accounts and believed to belong to the Taliban.

· Iran's defence minister warns the US that it would confront any of its planes that penetrated Iranian airspace during possible strikes on Afghanistan.

· Nato secretary general Lord Robertson says the alliance is satisfied that the United States has provided "clear and compelling" evidence that points "conclusively" to the involvement of Osama bin Laden and his Al-Qaida network in last month's attacks in New York and Washington.

· The SAS may be expanded as a result of a review of the structure, equipment, and strategy of Britain's armed forces in response to the global terrorist threat. The review is announced by the defence secretary, Geoff Hoon.

· Foreign secretary Jack Straw promises that the government will use every weapon - military, diplomatic, economic and political - to defeat terrorism.

Wednesday October 3· Lady Thatcher makes her first contribution to the debate on terrorism, criticising Muslim leaders for failing to speak out against the September 11 atrocities. Her comments immediately spark outrage.

· US war planners make their first formal approach to Nato requesting the alliance to make specific operational contributions to help in the fight against global terrorism.

· City watchdogs, senior police and some 75 bankers, brokers and senior financial executives hold an unprecedented meeting to discuss their roles in fighting terrorism and in preventing terrorists from cashing in on the aftermath of their atrocities.

Thursday October 4· The humanitarian coalition is as vital as military action, Tony Blair tells MPs at the start of nearly 10 hours of mainly supportive Westminster debate.

It focuses on the impact of a strike against Osama bin Laden on the people of Afghanistan, and fears about tougher anti-terrorist legislation.

· A Russian airliner explodes in mid-air over the Black Sea, killing all 78 passengers and crew. It may have been brought down accidentally by Ukrainian ground-to-air missiles fired during military exercises, American defence officials suggest, but Ukrainian officials deny responsibility.

Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, says it is possible that the plane had been targeted by terrorists.

· Three Israelis are killed and eight others wounded when a Palestinian disguised as an Israeli soldier goes on a shooting rampage at a bus station in northern Israel.

· Pakistan says it now believes there is conclusive evidence linking Osama bin Laden to last month's attacks on the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon.

· The Taliban authorities in Kabul confirm that the British journalist Yvonne Ridley, who was arrested last Friday after illegally entering Afghanistan, is to face trial on suspicion of spying.